Sons, Mothers, Daughter - Part 2
by F. Kat Cantor
Summary: Chapter 2 - James and Gobrianna return to PokeWorld and Risua's Darkfire hut to discover their secret. Just what does she want with them?


Son, Mother, Daughter   
Chapter 2  
  
"I dunno the last time I was here.. I think I was still fully Human."   
The female was about to throw in a word, but halted. James was changing,   
the Roo seemed to simply fade away, replaced by a young man with a lanky   
build, rakish brown hair and brilliant blue eyes.  
"It's probably a good idea that I walk the streets as a Human around   
here." Smiling, James took Gobrianna by the hand and began to walk her   
toward the forest. The female abruptly came to her senses, planting a hand   
upon James's shoulder, she attempted to pull away but stopped. A layer of   
dense fog had creeped up before them.  
"Go Helluce." Removing a PokeBall from his belt, James dropped it upon   
the ground. Gobrianna watched as a fully evolved Gengar popped out of the   
device.  
"A.. A Gengar?" James nodded and swept his hand through the Ghost   
Pokémon's head. The Gengar reacted by sniggering and drifting ahead.  
"Yes, he saved my life. I owed it to him to hold on to him and train   
him. Helluce will assist us." The fog seemed to thicken as they continued,   
but Helluce was never far ahead. After what seemed to be an eternity, the   
group burst through the soup and into a clearing. A decrepit looking hut   
sat before them.  
"Welcome to Darkfire's old home, nice huh?" Gobrianna could not help   
but shutter as she gazed upon the dilapidated structure. She could feel the   
mage's presence about the place, it was really quite eerie.  
"C'mon." Stepping up to the hut, the youth gently tapped upon the   
door. The portal swung open to reveal a snarling Haunter, seemingly ready   
for trouble.  
"Sit still Weaver, or you'll know what pain is all about." The Haunter   
seemed to want to say something, but halted. A fully grown Gengar was   
lurking behind the youth, and it was grinning. Relenting, the ghost Pokémon   
turned about and beckoned them inward. Once inside the hut, Gobrianna began   
to relax, the place did not seem so threatening on the interior. Books,   
flasks, and unrecognizable artifacts were strewn about the room like   
confetti, it looked to be the room of some perverse teen.  
"I guess she's not in." Ignoring the junk, James gathered himself and   
stepped to the rear of the hut, where a small door became apparent.   
Gobrianna made to follow, but the youth extended a hand.  
"No, this is for my eyes only." Without another word, James stepped   
inside the study and slammed shut the door, leaving Gobrianna to her own   
devices.  
* * *  
----------------------  
Darkfire's Hut  
2 Hours Later.  
  
Gobrianna was beginning to grow restless. It had been more then two hours   
she was sure, and the youth had still yet to emerge from the study. The   
seeds of doubt had begun to take hold in her mind, but she quickly stifled   
them when she remember the shadow in her room. Hopefully the guy knew what   
he was doing.  
"Gengar.. Gengar.." Helluce seemed to be restless as well. With the   
energy only a ghost Pokémon could muster, the Gengar swept about the room in   
a vain effort to gain some exercise. The female was about to protest when   
Helluce abruptly swept a book shelf. The entire structure wobbled and   
threatened to topple, but held firm. Instead, a mound of books tumbled from   
the shelf and landed upon the table in which the female sat.  
"Hey! Stop that!" The Gengar halted, then mumbling incomprehensibly to   
itself, the Ghost Pokémon faded away, apparently content to wander off on it's own.   
Gobrianna was not entirely caring at this point, she was about to rise and go get   
James when one of the books caught her eye. One of the pages were marked, a large   
seal was bound to the cover. Unable to resist, Gobrianna opened the book to the marked   
page.  
Are you sure that you want to do that? Gobrianna started, looking for   
the sound of the voice. There was nothing to be found, James was still   
holed up in the backroom, and the Gengar named Helluce had vanished.  
"Wow, it's beautiful.." Within the book sat a small gold pendant. Though   
the surface was scratched, it still gleamed dimly despite the considerable   
tarnish upon it's surface. Wiping the object, Gobrianna peered in closely.   
The figure of a male and a female was etched into the pendant, beneath read   
the words "Esva'ba Entalo ve decanso re Darkfire."  
"Darkfire," Gobrianna muttered, she had certainly come to know that   
particular name well. The female was about to close the book when her   
finger fell upon a marked page. She turned it to find a full page work of   
art.   
  
"Risua Darkfire's two true children."   
  
The image depicted Darkfire's children. But..  
"No, that's not right." The female whispered. Turning to the page, the   
female looked again. Once again, the image jumped out at her. It was true.   
Her heart thumping full in her ears, Gobrianna snatched the pendant and   
looked upon it. The figure of the male and female etched upon it's surface   
began to take on eerie familiarity.  
  
That of James and Gobrianna.  
  
Gobrianna dropped the pendant as if it were on fire. "What the hell?"   
she gasped in disbelief. The small golden thing winked up at her from the   
floor, and the girl could have sworn she heard a snigger drift through the   
air. She twisted around and vaulted to the door set in the back wall of the   
old hut.  
"JAMES!!!" she screamed, pounding on the door with her fist. "JAMES!!   
I'm not up for this! I'm not! Get out here RIGHT NOW!!!" She held her   
breath, straigning her ears for an answer. When no sound emerged she started   
pounding on the door with *both* fists. "JAMES! I'M NOT KIDDING GET OUT   
HERE!!!! OR I'M COMING IN!!!"  
This got a response. The door swung open--outward, so Gobrianna had to   
back up so fast she tripped over her own feet and fell on her butt. James   
emerged, staring down at her with an annoyed expression. "What is it now?"   
he sighed at the girl. "I was very busy--"  
"I don't care if you were dancing naked!" she retorted. Scrambling to   
her feet, she grabbed his hand and jerked him to the wooden table sitting in   
the middle of the room. On it sat a mysterious looking old book, opened to a   
marked page.  
"What have you been doing?" James exclaimed. "You shouldn't be touching   
any of *her*--"  
"Shuttup!" Gobrianna interrupted again. The boy stopped and blinked at   
her, actually surprised. Was it just him, or had the girl changed since he   
first met her? She was certainly more outspoken at the moment. Or maybe that   
was just stres....  
He watched as she bent over and scooped something up from the ground,   
thrusting it in his face. "Look!" she announced triumphantly. "Look at   
that!"  
James grabbed her hand. "I would, if you would stop waving it around   
like an idiot." He peered at the thing she held in her hand. It was a   
tanished golden pendant. "Where did you get this?" he demanded.  
"In the book. Never mind that, look at it!!"  
"It has something on it....an image of...I can't really make it out. Is   
that two people?"  
She nodded. "Yes, it's a boy and a girl. A *boy* and a *girl*. Get it?   
Get it?"  
James looked at Gobrianna as if she was insane. Her turquoise eyes   
shone with an odd luster. She was breathing hard and had an intense look on   
her face. "Get what? Are you okay, Bri? Maybe you should sit down...."  
"No time," she insisted, scooping up the book and thrusting that at him   
too. "Read *that*," she ordered. His blue eyes scanned the page quickly.   
When he looked up they too shone with understanding.  
"Oh..." James muttered quietly. "...Oh shit."  
"See?"  
"This is so impossible, God this is so impossible.." He sighed as   
he traced a finger upon the parchment before him. How could this have   
happened? How could they possibly be.. siblings? Licking his dry   
lips, the Roo took a quick look at Gobrianna. She looked equally shocked.  
"She's been watching us all this time.. Using us." The Roo shook his   
head and look down once again. James could recall having once stumbled upon   
this very parchment in his youth, but Darkfire had quickly guided him away.   
Now he knew why. Gobrianna was not being so sentimental.  
"There has to be something here.. Something here that'll tell us how   
how to stop her!" James could not help but marvel at the female's ability   
to cope. The human had already turned to the bookshelf and was proceeding   
to rip down every book in an effort to find something, anything.  
"Stop what? Stop her from following us? I already found it. Whaddaya   
think I found in Darkfire's room?" James smiled and held up a small parchment   
upon which was inscribed a weblike tracery.  
"What is that?" The female breathed.  
"I don't know, but I bet I know who does. C'mon, lets get back to   
AliHQ."  
Gobrianna furrowed her brow "Why? Didn't we just get here?"  
"I need to get something."  
"I.. Guess.."  
"We should go outside, just in case there's some spell in here that I don't  
know about," the pair strode outside and into the forest. James was still shaking  
his head, "I can't believe. I just can't believe it. I only just met you.. You  
can't be my.. Sister?"  
"It hasn't sunk in yet for me.."  
"Yeah, I know," the 'Roo looked downcast, "I think that I heard say that I   
belong to her. I don't like that idea.."  
"Do you think she's following us because we.. Found each other?"  
"Maybe."  
"What does it all mean?"  
"I really don't know," James gazed up at the sky, "Geez, look at that," High   
above their heads and through the layer of fog, the sky had shifted to a brilliant violet.   
A pack of Rattatas chittered to themselves and turned their attention to the sky.   
All of the beasts of the land and air seemed to take a pause and gaze at the peculiarity.  
"Darkfire knows that we are here I think," The 'Roo felt Gobrianna stiffen   
at that name. The mage was tenacious, James had to give her that. "Keep a weather eye out,"   
James muttered as the pair continued through the fog. Here and there, it would condense or disperse,   
revealing an increasingly drab sky above. At last the pair cleared the layer and were   
free to navigate.  
"I dunno where Helluce is right now, but he can take of himself. We'll   
probably be back soon anyhow," With a polite nod to Gobrianna, the Roo took   
hold of the female's hand and activated his newly acquired TDT..  
  
..And flashed direct onto the main floor of the Aliroo Headquarters. The   
corridors stood empty, save for a long receptionist nestled against the far   
wall. James didn't need to tell Gobrianna to hurry along, the female seemed   
quite aware of the necessity of moving. With the parchment clutched in his   
paw, the Roo maneuvered through the corridors with speed typical of a Roo,   
but the Human had no trouble keeping up.  
"C'mon, we should go check out the library." Gobrianna paused to catch her   
breath, and nearly lost site of the youth. James was plainly in a hurry.  
"Why.." She gasped, "What's in the library?" The Roo halted for a moment   
and allowed the female to catch up. He was plainly agitated.  
"When I was first Rooisized, I spent a lot of time in the library. I once   
caught sight of this one book.. It caught my eye cause it was a book ya   
know? Not a data pad. So I opened it and.. Well, the symbol here reminds   
me quite of the symbol in the book," James nodded toward the parchment,   
Gobrianna quickly got the idea.  
"I get it.. C'mon." This time it was James's turn to fall behind as   
Gobrianna took him by the paw and lead him through the complex. Several   
Roo's had to leap out of the way as she made a mad dash for the library.  
"Hold up Bri, we're here," Pushing through the set of double doors, James   
pulled back his head. The Library had long impressed the Roo, and it had   
really been too long since he had seen it. However, it did not take long to   
locate what he was looking for. Set against the wall, a book shelf towered   
into the nether that was the ceiling, a pair of stepladders and an   
antigravity belt were nearby. Being the less adventurous sort, James   
quickly mounted one of the ladders.  
"Hold on.." Cracking his knuckles, the Roo began to sort through the   
myriad data pads and books. There were an awful lot of them, and James   
found himself becoming quickly discouraged.  
"What about this one?" James looked down to see Gobrianna pulling bound   
book from waist level. It was a thick sucker, bound in leather and bearing the   
words "The Never Ending Story."  
"Naw Bri, that's the Never Ending Story. Keep looking," With a shrug,   
Gobrianna replaced the book and continued looking. She did not have far to   
go, as she moved aside, the female's hand brushed a second back. Squinting,   
Gobrianna caught sight of a shimmer.  
"James! I really found it this time!"   
James quickly slid down the ladder. In the female's hands was clutched a book   
entitled simply: "The Amber Chronicles."  
"I think.. I think that we found it."  
  
"Ya know, I'm sure that I saw something like this before." James   
muttered as he paged through his book. Gobrianna had long since grown bored   
of the exercise, but looked on anyhow.  
"What's that book about anyway?" The female muttered to herself, "I've   
never heard of it."  
"That's shouldn't be such a surprise. It was never published on   
PokeWorld,"  
Nothing was ever written in PokeWorld save for Pokémon training   
manuals. Upon reflection, James had lead a very dull childhood.  
"Found it." Yawning, Gobrianna shuffled over to the nearby table and   
took a look-see. The Roo was right. The hand sketched symbol within the   
book was identical to the one etched upon the parchment.  
"What does it mean?" The female whispered, suddenly interested.   
Rolling backward, James shut the book and placed it upon the shelf.  
"It means that the Pattern is the key to finding Darkfire and figuring  
out what's going. I dunno about you, but I'm pretty interested to know why I found  
you just recently," For the very first time in a long while, James actually grinned.  
"Well.. Where do we find this pattern?"  
"If I know my Amber, and I probably don't.. There's one in Amber and a   
shadow of one in Rebna."   
"What do we do?"  
"Well.. As far as I know, walk it."  
"Oh."   
James didn't bother to mention that as far as he knew, only   
Amberites of royal blood could walk the Pattern. Ah well, it wasn't like   
she actually had to know..  
  
In another time and place, the mists swirled through the black city   
streets and a massive clock tower rose intothe clouds. At it's pinnacle stood one..  
Risua Darkfire, my first and only Mistress. I am here.  
Helluce had returned to his Mistress.   
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
